Does Lennox Lewis not fighting Bowe the second best HW from his era ruin his legacy?

Discussion in 'World Boxing Forum' started by Ryan O'Reilly, Dec 14, 2011.


  1. Sugar 88

    Sugar 88 Woke Moralist-In-Chief

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    Feb 4, 2012
    One if the silliest threads I've ever seen on ESB and that really is saying something. The OP must be the only person alive who thinks LL ducked Bowe.
     
  2. bivins

    bivins Guest

    Lewis and Byrd's wins over Vitali are of equal standing, give or take. Byrd did frustrate and cause the Vitali shoulder injury by making him reach and miss, and like Lewis he did win the last completed round in my eyes. I think Lewis beat the slightly better Holyfield, and Byrd beat the slightly better Tua. I believe McCline is a better win than Grant as McCline destroyed Grant and ended up with the better career. Byrd fought the better Golota, who was not going cardiac from an illegal drug injection. Byrd had to fight Wlad twice and Ike, Lewis did not.

    Byrd's resume is underrated, but that said, Lewis absolutely has the superior resume. You just can't judge a fighter by a handful of their top wins. If that was the case Rex Layne would rank above Tyson, Maxim above Robinson..etc.

    Lewis has the big ones, but he also has a more fleshed out resume with Ruddock, Rahman, Mercer, Bruno, Tucker..etc.
     
  3. Foxy 01

    Foxy 01 Boxing Junkie banned

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    Apr 23, 2012
    My source puts it this way. No mention of Seldon who I believe held the WBA version.

    After beating Mercer in May 96.
    Lewis successfully sued to force Tyson to make a mandatory defense of the WBC title against him or force him to give up the title, winning a four million dollar settlement from promoter Don King. Rather than fight Lewis, Tyson relinquished the WBC title to fight Evander Holyfield. The WBC title was declared vacant. This set up a rematch between Lewis and McCall, who met on 7 February 1997 in Las Vegas for the WBC title.

    Not that I suppose it matters but I hate it when the pro Tyson spin gets applied by his fan boys, claiming it was to unify against Seldon.

    It wasn't King paid out to keep Tyson away from Lennox. End of.